diff --git a/share/functions/colon.fish b/share/functions/colon.fish
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b41ad1e4e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/share/functions/colon.fish
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+function :
+    # no-op function for compatibility with sh, bash, and others.
+    # Often used to insert a comment into a chain of commands without having
+	# it eat up the remainder of the line, handy in Makefiles.
+end